'Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner,' Tamera Mowry-Housley and her husband said in a statement.

Author:
Erin Jensen, USA Today

Published:
9:59 AM CST November 8, 2018

Updated:
2:28 PM CST November 8, 2018

A California shooting left "The Real" host and "Sister, Sister" star Tamera Mowry-Housley devastated after the star discovered her niece was one of the victims.

A statement issued to USA TODAY on behalf of Mowry-Housley and her husband, former Fox News correspondent Adam Housley, confirmed their niece was a victim in the mass shooting that left 12 dead about 40 miles west of Los Angeles late Wednesday after a gunman opened fire inside a country music dance bar.

"Our hearts are broken. We just learned that our niece Alaina was one of the victims of last night’s shooting at Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks," the couple stated via their joint representative, Chantal Artur. "Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner. We thank everyone for your prayers and ask for privacy at this time."

Earlier Thursday, the couple took to social media to frantically look for Alaina.

Responding to a tweet about a person's missing suitemate, Mowry-Housley wrote: "This is her aunt Tamera Mowry Housley. Can you please DM me your information?"

The suitemate then tweeted that she'd been in contact with "Adam," and that their niece, Alaina Housley, was the only one out of "a handful of girls (who) went to line dance tonight" who are unaccounted for.

"A guard didn’t let him through, saying (the hospital) was on lockdown," Castillo, who was at the hospital, tweeted. "He said Alaina, a Pepperdine freshman, was at the bar with several friends. Her Apple Watch and iPhone still showed her location on the dance floor."

Castillo continued, tweeting: "Housley said two of Alaina’s suite mates jumped through a broken window to escape and are at a hospital with major glass wounds. As they ran away from the bar, someone screamed 'Hey! Get the (expletive) down on the ground!' They told Housley they believe it was the gunman."

"But they kept running toward houses near Los Robles Greens golf course, where they got help from residents," Castillo added.

At 10:34 a.m. ET, Housley updated his followers that he had heard "nothing" yet about his niece, as his wife noted on her Twitter account: "We haven’t found her yet. It’s been 7 hrs since the shooting."

Later Thursday morning, Housley took his grief to Facebook. "I really don’t know what to say other than I love this girl with all my heart and I’d give my life right now for a miracle," he captioned a photo of his niece.

She later shared an Instagram photo and asked her followers to share any information they may have.

"Alaina Housely we are praying. We love u! If you know anything or any information please let us know. We love you! #borderline," Mowry wrote.

Mowry-Housley gushed over her niece on Instagram in March of last year.

The actress captioned a close-up of the teen with teased curls and iridescent eye shadow: "My niece Alaina Housley. I can't believe I met her when she was five. She now is a Junior in high school doing a photo shoot with a 70's theme. Kill it beauty. Good luck in all your future endeavors."